Now this is exactly the office of faith in relation to every
b Acts xxi. 31. c Acts xxii. 22. d Acts xxiii. 10.
e Acts xxiii. 14, 15. f Acts xxv. 2, 3, 9—11. s ver. 24.
word of God. Whether God threaten or promise, we must regard the event as certain. Much is told us in the inspired volume respecting the salvation of all who believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ These promises we are to apprehend and
rely upon, " not staggering at any of them," but having a con- fident assurance that they shall all be fulfilled to us in their season ]
We must not however separate from this,
II. The obligations of faith —
[When the peril of shipwreck became more imminent, the sailors, under pretence of casting anchors out of the fore-ship, would have endeavoured to save themselves in the boat : but Paul, perceiving their intentions, told the centurion and the soldiers, that unless the seamen continued in the ship, none of the crew could be saved11. But had not God promised abso- lutely, that not one life among them should be lost? How then could the desertion of a part of the crew prove the de- struction of the whole ? The answer to this is plain : God had ordained the means as well as the end : and to seek the one without using the other, was to tempt God, rather than to trust him.
Now this observation is of great importance, as reflecting light on the manner in which God accomplishes all his pro- mises to us. He " has given us exceeding great and precious promises ;" and no one of them shall ever fail ; but we are not therefore at liberty to sit down idly, and to expect salvation without any exertions on our part : we must exert ourselves as much as if our success depended wholly on our own arm ; and at the same time we are to trust in God as simply, as if no effort whatever were used by us. This is the mode pre- scribed by God himself. He tells us, that " eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ :" yet he says, " Labour for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you i." The consideration of God's promised aid is so far from superseding our own personal exertions, that it is our great encouragement to put them forth k : and to look for salvation in any other way than that which God has marked out, is to deceive ourselves to our eternal ruin. The means and the end are equally ordained of God1: and what God has joined, it is in vain for man to put asunder.]
In performing these duties, we may expect,
III. The benefits of faith —
h ver. 31.
' John vi. 27. Compare with this, other passages of like inipoit : Bzek. xxxvi. 30, 37. Prov. ii. 2 — (i.
h Phil. ii. 12, 13. > 2 Thess. ii. 13.
1815.] Paul's deliverance from shipwreck. 58.0
[Two benefits accrued to Paul and his associates, namely, present peace, and final safety. Notwithstanding the storm continued as violent as ever, and they had turned adrift the boat which they might have looked to as useful for their pre- servation we behold the whole crew in a state of comparative peace and comfort-: and, in the issue, every one of them obtained the desire of his soul; for though the ship grounded, and was broken in pieces, all were saved at last ; some by swimming to shore, and others on boards and the broken pieces of the ship.
wWW-7-bn1;0l-d an„e:Pct representation of the benefits which faith in Christ will always obtain. We shall be brought to a state of sweet composure, notwithstanding we are yet in the midst of a tumultuous world, and menaced with dangers on every side: we shall "be filled with joy and peace in